Tag Archives: McCombs School

Internship Spotlight: Samantha Speakmon – Ethics & Compliance for BP

Date
Posted by
Comments0
Internship Spotlight: Samantha Speakmon – Ethics & Compliance for BP

Samantha Speakmon is a BHP/Finance senior who spent the summer working as an Ethics & Compliance Intern at BP, a multinational oil and gas company that is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world.

How did you find out about your internship?

The internship was posted on OCR. I emailed a BHP alum who works at BP because the job description wasn’t a normal corporate finance role. She forwarded me a little more information about the team and I applied.

What do you think set you apart from other candidates and led to you getting the position over other candidates?

I think what really set me apart during my first interview was my genuine interest in the industry. I knew a lot of background information on the energy industry, and I came in with good questions that helped me understand the team’s role in the business. I left that interview convinced that it was the best internship for me. So when I had a second interview, I made sure to communicate my confidence that it was a perfect fit.

What were you doing for your internship?

I was working at BP with the Ethics & Compliance team in the natural gas and power trading group in Houston. The E&C team oversees trading activity to ensure that traders are behaving within external laws and internal policies. As an intern, my big project was an assessment of the main risk areas that E&C oversees, which include risks like money laundering, market manipulation, and misleading communications. I also ran daily reports that looked at BP’s positions in the market relative to the mandatory position limits, which are there to prevent market manipulation.

What did you enjoy most from the experience?

I really enjoyed working on a trading floor; it was a great experience. BP’s “one team” culture was very visible, especially in such a fast-paced and high-risk environment. Everyone was friendly and ready to help out, so I was always able to ask questions and network with people, even if they weren’t in my group.

What were the key takeaways for you?

My biggest takeaway is learning about and actually seeing the extent to which regulatory forces affect and change a trading business. When the penalties of market manipulation can be upwards of $300 million, an Ethics & Compliance department is a valuable line of defense. The group decreases the risk of a regulatory breach by monitoring the positions and communications of traders and adapting the business to new legislation like Dodd-Frank.

How do you think this internship will help you with your future career goals?

I have always been interested in the energy industry, but this internship helped me find a few specific career paths that I would enjoy. There are so many more unique opportunities to use a finance degree than I thought. Since I may want to go to law school, I was glad to see areas where I could use both a finance and law degree.

Internship Spotlight: Josh Hu – Operations and Supply Chain for Amazon.com

Date
Posted by
Comments0
Internship Spotlight: Josh Hu – Operations and Supply Chain for Amazon.com

This past summer, BHP senior Josh Hu worked as a Leadership Operations Intern at Amazon.com in Reno, Nevada. Amazon.com is the world’s largest online retailer and the producer of the Kindle e-book reader.

How did you find out about your internship?

I am a big Amazon fan and at the Fall Career Expo, I stopped and talked to the recruiter to learn more about the different opportunities available at the company. Lucky for me, they said they had a Leadership Operations Intern position available for sophomores and juniors! After a short mini interview on the spot, they told me to drop my resume on McCombs OCR.

What do you think set you apart from other candidates and led to you getting the position over other candidates?

Before the interview, I talked to now BHP senior Karthik Ramachandran and my UBC parent Claire Krucik to learn more about their experiences as interns the previous summer. Going into the interview, I had a pretty good idea of what interns do on a daily basis. I think Amazon really values people who are open and willing to learn new things, and I definitely emphasized during the interview that while I may be young and not know as much as others, I was willing to work hard to learn as much as I could.

What were you doing for your internship?

The internship I did was in operations and supply chain. During the first week, all the interns went through Associate Week, where we learned how to do every single process at an Amazon facility and experienced what it’s like to be an associate.  Throughout the summer, I shadowed area managers and Operations Managers, performed safety audits to make sure that associates were being safe, scheduled carrier appointment requests to bring freight into the facility, worked on different projects, and even led stand up meetings. I honestly learned so much!

What did you enjoy most from the experience?

The thing I enjoyed most from the experience was how I learned something new every single day. In addition, so many people at Amazon were happy to answer any questions that I had. There are many different challenges every day, but that’s what makes it so exciting! At Amazon, there are so many different people from different backgrounds. I really liked getting to know them and hearing their stories.

What were the key takeaways for you?

Give everyone a chance and as cliché as this sounds, don’t judge a book by its cover. I have met people at Amazon who attended Harvard Business School as well as people who only have a high school education. And a lot of times, the person with the high school education knows way more than the person with the MBA from Harvard. People definitely surprise you. Take time to get to know others and listen to their stories.

Be able to deal with uncertainty. Not everything will go as planned, and when faced with any challenge, it is important to take a deep breath and make the decision that you believe to be right at that moment. Even if it is the wrong decision, life goes on, and you learn from your mistakes. Having strong Excel skills can also help you immensely. MIS 301H is definitely useful, and knowing how to write Macros will help you even more!

How do you think this internship will help you with your future career goals?

I think that having a background in operations can help you immensely in finance and accounting careers, which is the career path I am leaning towards. I also learned a lot about process improvement during this internship, which is something that can be applied to any job.

Internship Spotlight: Nicole Cassidy – Securitization Capital Markets Team for Morgan Stanley

Date
Posted by
Comments0
Internship Spotlight: Nicole Cassidy – Securitization Capital Markets Team for Morgan Stanley

Nicole Cassidy, a BHP/Finance senior, had a summer internship at Morgan Stanley in the Global Capital Markets Securitization team. Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm that specializes in securities, asset management, and credit services.

How did you find out about your internship?

As a sophomore, I received an email invite to an information session and dinner with the Global Capital Markets group. I went to the event and learned a lot about Morgan Stanley and Capital Markets. Although I didn’t intern with Morgan Stanley that year, I kept in contact with some of the employees that I met. When it came time to recruit this year, I already had quite a few contacts and knew about the internship. It certainly made the recruiting process much easier!

What do you think set you apart from other candidates and led to you getting the position over other candidates?

A UT grad who works for the division put me in contact with several of his colleagues. By asking questions and listening to various descriptions of job functions and the company culture, I was well-prepared for most interview questions. In addition, I was asked several times during Super Day who I had talked to prior to the interview. I think I set myself apart by being able to show that I had taken the time to learn about the job through various employees beforehand.

What were you doing for your internship?

I was on the Securitization Capital Markets Team. More specifically, I was on the team that issues auto, utility, and mortgage-backed securities. I often created pages and models for client presentations and selling memos for the trading floor. In addition, I also worked to get deals rated by the rating agencies and often revised texts with commentary from the legal team.

What did you enjoy most from the experience?

I really enjoyed being given real projects on a daily basis. I didn’t simply make copies, but instead saw my work actually being passed on to clients and traders. In addition, my team was great about giving me a variety of projects so I could see everything that they do. I had the opportunity to work with a variety of asset classes and was able to discern which I liked better than others. It was also very interesting to discern fact from fiction about Wall Street. Last but certainly not least, I made wonderful friends from this experience and was able to explore New York with them!

What were the key takeaways for you?

Perhaps the biggest takeaway has been the importance of work-life balance. I was working 80-90 hours a week. More than anything, I learned to really enjoy time off (and sleep)! In addition, I learned how to be more detailed-oriented. Almost everything I did was eventually passed outside of my group, so even the smallest details become important.

How do you think this internship will help you with your future career goals?

My ultimate career goal is to be a financial lawyer. Whether or not I decide to actually work in the banking industry first, this internship has opened my eyes to the complexities and opportunities that the industry presents. My team is on calls with lawyers on a daily basis so I have gotten an eye into their daily job functions and the overall career path. In addition, learning the financial language and methodology will be beneficial wherever I end up.

Internship Spotlight: Samantha Darnell – Supply Chain for H-E-B

Date
Posted by
Comments0
Internship Spotlight: Samantha Darnell – Supply Chain for H-E-B

Over the summer many BHP students spent their time in internships, learning more about what they want to do after graduation, and what will be expected of them when they join the workforce. For the next six days we will be spotlighting some of our students’ internship experiences, and helping current students learn more about how these students landed their summer internships.

Senior Samantha Darnell is a triple major in BHP, Supply Chain Management, and Spanish. We spoke with her about her summer internship at H-E-B, a supermarket chain with over 315 stores in Texas and northern Mexico.

How did you find out about your internship?

I learned about H-E-B’s internship program at the McCombs corporate sponsorship dinner two years ago. I had received the HEB scholarship in food distribution and met HEB representatives at that function who told me about the opportunity.

What do you think set you apart from other candidates and led to you getting the position over other candidates?

I believe I was selected due to the nature of my interest in food, my understanding of H-E-B’s role in that industry, and my desire to learn about their supply chain, specifically. My particular interest in the food industry lies in the opportunity for grocery stores and efficient food distribution to help eradicate our nation’s food deserts. H-E-B is the perfect example of a large retailer that commits to doing what is right for the communities it serves while maintaining impressive financial results. It can only achieve these results with an efficient supply chain operation which is a main reason I was drawn to the company. During the interview process, I made my specific interest in grocery very clear so they could understand that this position, for me, would be more than just an internship I needed for credit.

What were you doing for your internship?

I was working in supply chain, specifically the Forecast and Replenishment Department. My specific project involved analyzing the multi-echelon transfer process, essentially the transfer of products among H-E-B’s regional warehouses. I was studying the overall process, identifying opportunities, and modeling inventory and cost implications. Ultimately, I presented my recommendations to senior leadership.

What did you enjoy most from the experience?

I was really impressed with the openness of H-E-B’s partners and, frankly, their willingness to help and to teach. If I wanted to tour the bakery plant or the export warehouse, all it took was an email and I was welcomed with open arms. During the summer I visited multiple warehouses, manufacturing facilities, stores, and went on a truck ride. These experiences were so valuable because they helped me to understand how the different parts of the supply chain fit together and allowed me to see my project work in action.

What were the key takeaways for you?

One of the most important takeaways from this position is that I now know I made the right decision about studying Supply Chain. Selecting your other business major is often a leap of faith but, thank goodness, this summer has shown me I chose correctly. Another key takeaway is simply the complexity of a retail supply chain. Even though H-E-B “only” operates in Texas and Mexico, beginning to understand the inner workings of their supply chain and comprehend the magnitude of the operation has 1) made me appreciate every item I see on a shelf while I’m grocery shopping and, 2) reinforced the value of studying supply chain. The supply chain world is only going to grow in size and complexity and this internship has allowed me to see that first-hand.

How do you think this internship will help you with your future career goals?

This internship has positioned me well for the real world. I can now say that I have actual supply chain experience and have my project results to back it up. I can also say confidently that for at least the near future, I want to continue with supply chain in the food industry. I always knew that getting food from one place to another wasn’t easy but I now understand to a greater extent how hard, and important, it actually is. Affordable, accessible, safe, and high quality food is difficult to continually provide your customers, but difficult pursuits are often quite rewarding.

Students Get to Know Professors on a Different Level during DWAP Events

Date
Posted by
Comments0

Every semester BHP professors volunteer to participate in a program coordinated by the Honors Business Association, called Dinner with a Professor (DWAP). DWAP was started five years ago and has become one of the most popular events for students and professors alike. Students from the program are invited to dinner with a BHP professor at a location of the professor’s choice.

William O’Hara, a professor with the Department of Accounting, and his wife, Beverly, took around 60 students to Dave & Buster’s last semester for a dinner and dessert buffet as well as games. According to O’Hara, the students were as competitive playing games as they are in the classroom. At the end of the night though, they all came together and surprised him by pooling the tickets they won from their games to buy him an enormous Clifford The Big Red Dog to thank him and his wife for hosting the event.

When asked why he enjoyed hosting the event, O’Hara said, “Even with the smaller class sizes of BHP, it is still hard to get to know your students well. I think the education process is better when you know them better and unless they come to office hours, it is hard to do that. This provides that opportunity.”  O’Hara noted that the event developed a camaraderie that translated to the classroom. “I noticed a difference afterwards that some of the students who didn’t participate much in class before, were now participating.”

For students, the appeal of these events is that they allow students to get to know their professors on a personal level and see them in a different environment than they usually do. Prabhudev Konana, a BHP MIS professor, has hosted a DWAP at his house every year for around 70 students since 2008. He admits that is a lot of work for him and his wife, but says he wants to expose students to their culture. They serve Indian food, expose them to Bollywood and Bollywood dance, and show them the Indian artwork in their house. Courtney Brindle, a junior BHP student who participated in Dr. Konana’s DWAP last year, had heard about the impromptu Bollywood dance parties beforehand, but being a participant last year, she thought it was, “really cool to have fun with Dr. Konana and see another side of him.”

HBA plans around five DWAPs per semester. Forrest Ripley, president of HBA, thinks these events are important for the BHP culture. “Professors are at the core of what makes BHP so great. Giving students a chance to bond with their professors on a personal level is one of the best services that HBA can offer students.”

Professor O’Hara said he and his wife Beverly will definitely be hosting a DWAP again this year. “Beverly is very interested in education and she wants to be involved. She still talks about what a great evening it was. We heard comments from students that the event was the perfect break during a tough time of year and allowed them one night to be a kid again. We will be on board to do it again this year!”